This is Home
by From Spark to Flame
Summary: The apprehension and anxiety of the war fizzled away and instead, it was replaced by soft, shy smiles and sparkling eyes as the warmth of the roaring fire seeped into their bones. Outside, the cold seeped into another’s bones. Draco's. DMHG.


Disclaimer: The HP series doesn't belong to me.

A/N: Haha, forget about keeping it at 100 for a while. I'm posting!

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It was the laughter that survived that night. It was what echoed through the desolate halls of the Burrow. It was what filled the ears of the tensed warriors, ready to assume and ready to fight, but only for what they believed in. It was what brought tears to eyes. It was what caused the chosen one's grief filled eyes to ease up for minutes at a time and a gentle smile to appear on those full pink lips as he sat back and let his gaze rake over the family that surrounded him.

The fire crackled in its hearth and as everyone sat next to the heat, a golden light was cast over their faces. Cookies were passed around, along with pastries that were meant to keep everyone's mouth watering and hungry for more. Pastries filled their mouths as they leaned into the plush of the sofas, savoring the comforting sense of home.

The sugar coated their teeth and crumbs flew everywhere, coating the floor, furniture and several people. And through it all, no one said sorry. No one said thank you. No one nodded or just said hi. They talked and chatted, as if they had known each other for all their life, which some of them had.

The burrow was filled with everyone. The Weasleys. The Order members. The Golden Trio. And in some way, they were able to put a bit past them and settle into the house, ignoring the war raging on in the world around them and for once, only worrying about how drunk Mrs. Weasley would allow them to get and whether all the sugar would add 20 pounds to their weight.

In moments, the apprehension and anxiety of the war fizzled away and instead, it was replaced by soft, shy smiles and sparkling eyes as the warmth of the roaring fire seeped into their bones.

Outside, the cold seeped into another's bones, much like how the rain had seeped through his clothes. His freezing hands were shoved deep inside the depths of his pockets, searching desperately for an ounce of warmth to save his frostbitten fingers from more pain. His hands balled up into tight fists in a fruitless effort to keep what little warmth he still had in his body inside.

The teen's teeth chattered form behind those blue tinted lips. His icy eyes squinted against the wind as he struggled on, a shattering breath releasing with every step forward. The splish splash of his shoes in the water of the thin pond was barely noticeable in the deafening rain as it landed all around him. He moved on slowly, those eyes focused on one thing as he moved through the reeds and the wild grass. It was the light filtering out of the homely house those few yards away.

From his view, the blond could spy on figure in the window, a dark haired teen with piercing green eyes that was leaning over a small mug that housed a warm liquid that had the teen blowing steam off of.

The young Potter's mouth formed a small 'O' as he blew a cold rush of breathe over the mug of hot cocoa. The small little marshmallows floating at the top twirled around each other in a graceful ballet. Harry's eyes followed the small object, entranced by the beauty that came of such a simple gesture. He nuzzled his lips around his second cup of cocoa.

He let out a long breathe and let his eyes drifted closed under the weight of the exhausting day. Somewhere in the back of his head, a voice noted that tomorrow would be another grueling day and the day after that and the day after that. Exhaustion drew his face down as his breathing slowly evened out and the sounds of his friends and family laughing flooded his ears. He vaguely noted a quilt being placed over him. His eye opened to see Hermione hovering over him. Her fingers were reaching for his face, taking the oval spectacles that still lay on his nose. Harry offered her a weak smiled as she folded them and put them down on the table.

Harry snuggled a bit more into the sofa, the soft cushioning giving him a comforting feeling. His eyes lazily roamed over the room. A sleepy yet contented smile rose to his lips. He shuffled under the arm quilt, trying to get into a comfortable position so that his limbs wouldn't be sore in the morning. He ended up on his side, the sofa supporting his side while the quilt warmed him up. He was looking out the window tiredly, on the verge of falling back to his dreamland.

And then he saw them.

Through the bitter rain of the night, he saw 2 helpless grey eyes. The eyes that only one person Malfoy.

Suddenly, the sleep that encrusted his eyes fled away as the anger ravaged his body and raced through his fiery veins. In seconds, the quilt was on the floor and Harry was pulling out his wand. Harry could feel everyone's eyes on him, but the only thing that registered in his mind was that there was a Death Eater outside the burrow.

"Malfoy's outside." Those two word escaped his tight lips as he ran through the front door, his heart pounding loudly outside his chest. He could hear the loud footsteps behind him as the Order members ran behind him and Mrs. Weasley trying to usher the other teens upstairs.

Harry flung open the door with a flourish of his wand. His fingers gripped his wand so hard that the appendages turned white with strain. It was only then, when he was surrounded by the pitter patter of the rain and right in front of a dark, pitiful figure that he realized that he didn't have his glasses on.

He bit his lip hard and stared into those steely eyes. He could vaguely see the blonde hair plastered against his forehead and the clothes sagging off of his body.

Harry didn't turn as everyone rushed up behind him, all of them staring at him in wonder until they followed Harry's gaze to see the pathetic Malfoy standing in front of them all, looking as if he was about to drop right there. And he did, though not from exhaustion. Instead, he dropped from the stupefy that Harry sent at him, landing with a face full of dirt.

That was the first thought Draco had when he woke up. He was dirty. The second, as he noted his odd surroundings, was that he made it. He was there finally.

But as he looked around, he was met with two startling green eyes that drilled holes into his head and roughly 5 wands pointed at his face. With a sigh, Draco held up his hands in a motion of surrender, hoping his eyes would convey his plight.

"I come in peace," Draco said tiredly, praying that they'd believe him.

Potter just snarled and showed his wand against Draco's forearm where the Dark Mark lay, easy to see through the white shirt that turned transparent after its soaked state. "Peace?"

"I want to leave the Death Eaters. I never wanted to joi-"

"Don't you dare say that! You know you have! You always have! After all, you wouldn't want to shame your Death Eater father. You've been dreaming of this form the start… and bragging about it to your friends," Harry interrupted, jabbing his wand at Draco again.

Draco bit his lip, wanting to deny it all, even though he knew it was true. "I never knew about Voldemort. I didn't know how crazy he was," he whispers softly into the silence of the room. His fingers played with each other in his lap and he looked down at them.

"You think that some weirdo who wanted to kill muggles and split his freaking soul into pieces is normal?"

"Thought," Draco corrected.

"Why would you want to join us?"

"Because he wants me to kill."

"I bet you can do that easily with that stone heart of yours."

"DRACO!"

Everyone looked up at the exclamation, seeing Hermione running up to the group. She flung her arms around his neck and nuzzled his shoulder, tears falling from her face and onto his shirt. A small smile grew onto Draco's lips and his own arms enveloped the other teen.

"I knew you couldn't betray me," Hermione whispered into the crook of his neck form in between the sobs raking through her body. Draco just nodded and stroked her back. "I missed you," she said again, even softer this time.

"I love you too."

"Welcome home," Hermione announced, smiling at the inside joke.

"Of course. Now I'm in your arms."

"And I'm in yours."

"Home."

With those few words, they were together. Finally. Together, they could survive this war. As long as they were together in each other's arms forever, always envisioning their future together and their home.

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A/N: Hehe, I have no patience. I couldn't help but post. This oneshot was inspired by 'This is Home' by Switchfoot. The idea just came to me while listening to it and at first, I was going to put it in the Love Is drabbles, but I realized I already had a drabble with the metaphor being home. So I'm making this a oneshot.

THIS IS MY 101st FIC!!!!! WHOO!

I was mostly using this fic as practice for descriptive writing. Did anyone notice? Haha, I barely had any actual dialogue until a few hundred words in.

Please review. Spread the love.

XOXO

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PS: Summer school is over so I have much more time to write now.


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